The Adventure Begins
by Luoc
Summary: Thomas is a young man with many dreams. This is the story of how he achieved them. (Humanised)
1. Introduction

The Adventure Begins

Based on the 2015 Thomas Friends special by Andrew Brenner.

Inspired by The Railway Series by The Rev. W. Awdry and Thomas Friends by Britt Allcroft.

We all have dreams. Every single one of us. We all aspire to achieve those dreams, weather it is finding true love or getting your dream job. Within all of us is the ability to achieve our dreams, maybe not exactly as we wanted them, but still oh, so wonderful. This is the story of one young man achieving his dream.


	2. Chapter 1 - A New Home

One late summer day, the sun shined over the town of Barrow-in-Furness. A high-speed train pulled gently into the platform of the railway station. The doors flung open, and a mass horde of people flooded out. A young man, Thomas Billinton, hurriedly followed, dragging a large suitcase behind him. Thomas was a man of 21 years, with black hair and blue eyes. His friends called him short and stumpy, though he always insisted he was of average build. They called him a dreamer too, as he wanted to see the world.

Thomas had had a long journey. He'd come all the way from Brighton in the South, through London and up the West Coast. Now, he was just a train ride away from his destination. He crossed the platform towards the awaiting train, but was struck in awe by the engine in front. It was a large tender engine, coloured blue and lined red. Light steam filled the area around it.

"Beautiful, isn't she?" A voice behind Thomas said. He turned around to see a tall man with an athletic build, and blue eyes very much like his own. Judging by his clothes, Thomas guessed he was the driver.  
"She sure is. An LNER Pacific, right?" He replied.

"The prototype LNER Pacific. Her name's the Shooting Star." He said, gesturing towards the name plate. "Finest engine in the North Western fleet, if I do say so, and I have the humble honour of being her driver. Regular 90 miles per hour running, you won't find a faster steam engine this side of the Channel!"

"Personally, I think No.3 is better." A voice called from the cab. "You can't beat a Stanier."

"Nobody cares what you think Henry." The driver replied, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, are you travelling with us?"

"Uh, yes sir, all the way to, uh, Tidmouth. I'm meeting family there." Thomas said.

"Good, cause that's our only stop!" The driver said as he climbed back into the cab. "You better jump aboard. Enjoy the ride."

"Thanks, I will." Thomas called back as he ran to his carriage. Seconds after he jumped aboard, the guard blew his whistle and the train was soon on its way. Thomas walked to his seat and sat down. He looked around the carriage; it was like he'd stepped back into another time. In the place of the plastic and airline seating of the high-speed train, was wood and bays. He then looked out the window; beautiful countryside and towns flew past. Every once in a while another train would go flying past. After two hours, far too soon for Thomas, the train came to a stop at Tidmouth, the biggest station on the railway.

Thomas disembarked and checked a piece of paper he had, telling him where to go next : Ffarquhar. He decided to ask someone which train he needed to catch. He glanced around the busy station, and eventually spotted a man, smartly dressed in a blue railway uniform. Thomas approached him.

"Uh, excuse me. Can you tell me how I can get to, uh, F-far-qu-har?" He asked, stumbling with the pronunciation.

"Sure thing, mate. You go to Platform 3, over there, and catch the 3:45 branch line service, pulled by the diesel railcar." The man replied.

"Thanks!" Thomas replied. He quickly walked over to Platform 3, and saw his train. Like the man said, it was a railcar, dark green with yellow. He bought a ticket from the guard, and paid an additional fee so he could put his suitcase in the luggage compartment, and went to board the rear coach, when he heard some familiar voices.

"Thomas! Thomas!" They called. Thomas turned to see his aunts, Annie and Clarabel, rushing across the platform towards him. They were two short old ladies, with light brown, but greying, hair.

"Aunt Annabel! Aunt Clarabel!" Thomas exclaimed as he ran towards them. The trio embraced. "It's been so long since I last saw you!"

"It's good to see you Thomas!" Annie said.

"We've been waiting so long for this day!" Clarabel added. "But before we get distracted, let's get on the train." The trio boarded and sat down.

"It's so great to see you two again. Thanks again for agreeing to put me up until I can get my own place." Thomas said gratefully.

"Oh, its our pleasure Thomas. We've always said we'd support your dreams, haven't we?" Annie pointed out.

Thomas smiled. "You have, you have... I just can't tell you how grateful I am."

"Just do us proud!" Annie said. "Now, we've arranged an interview with the Fat Cont..."

"Sir Topham Hatt!" Clarabel interrupted.

"Right. We've arranged an interview with him for you at 9 o'clock sharp, tomorrow. The train for Tidmouth leaves at 8. Clarabel is guarding that, so she can show you where to go from there. After that's done, I expect he'll want you to start first thing on Monday." Annie explained.

"You'll do fine, Thomas." Clarabel said encouragingly. "Sir Topham is a firm, but fair man."

"Right. Thanks again, for everything you've done." The trio then chatted until the journey came to an end. Thomas retrieved his suitcase from the luggage compartment and Annie and Clarabel took him to their home a short distance from the station; a small two story house, made of red brick.

"The Stationmaster, Mr Volley, is our neighbour." Clarabel noted. She unlocked the door and they entered the house.

"Welcome to our humble abode. What's ours is yours." Annie declared. "Now, mine and Clarabel's bedrooms are upstairs, the bathroom is to the right, and just beyond that is the kitchen. To the left, is the living room."

"I'm sorry to say you'll be sleeping in here. Don't worry, the sofa can fold out into a bed and is very comfortable, I assure you." Clarabel explained.

"It's alright, Auntie. I wasn't expecting anything luxurious."

"Great, now I'll put some food on. I make a mean ham and cheese pasta." Annie said.

"Sounds delicious!" Thomas said, as he began unpacking his things and placing them in some drawers his Aunts had prepared. Just as he finished, Annie called from the kitchen that tea was ready. Soon they were gathered round the table and tucking in to the pasta

"This _is_ delicious, Aunt Annie." Thomas complemented.

"Thank you, dear! Now about tomorrow..."

"We get up at about six. You can lay in if you want, but we can take you over to the Sheds and introduce you to some of our collauges, if you like." Clarabel offered.

"That would be awesome, thanks!" Thomas replied. "Hey, how about I wash the dishes for you? It's least I can do to repay you."

"Why, thank you. We'll be in the living room if you need us." The two left and Thomas gathered the dishes and put them in the sink. He gave them a thorough wash, dried them and put them in the cupboards. He then went to join his aunts. They chatted for a while, until it was time for bed.

"Best get an early night. You want to be well rested for your interview." Annie said. They showed him how to set up the bed and then went up to their rooms.

"Goodnight Thomas!" They called down.

"Goodnight, Aunties." He called back. He took off his clothes and put on his pyjamas, lay down on the bed and slipped under the blankets. As he began to drift away to dreamland, his thoughts turned to the future.

"Tomorrow," He thought aloud. "The adventure shall truly begin." And with that, he fell to sleep.


End file.
